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« WE HEAR RIGA IS NICE THIS TIME OF YEAR. | Main | A BUSY DAY AT THE GRAY LADY »

October 16, 2003

BUT HER NAME WAS PUSSY GALORE

I raise my head from my moment of silence on behalf of my Chicago brethren to note the passing of Patrick Dalzel-Job, Ian Fleming’s alleged role model for 007.

He disapproved of James Bond -"far too dramatic" - stayed faithful to one woman all his life, and would rather watch Pride and Prejudice than secret agent films on TV. Yet retired Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander Patrick Dalzel-Job, whose death at age 90 was announced in Scotland yesterday, came closer than any other candidate to being the true-life original of Ian Fleming's Bond.

I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve never heard of the guy. Ashamed because those who know me will tell you that Bond love is one of my guilty pleasures. My first piece of published j. (mercifully lost to the ages) was on the subject of Fleming poaching his wartime experiences for the Bond novels. I even bought The Easton Press’ staggeringly overpriced reissues of the Jonathan Cape first editions. But this is my first encounter with the name Dalzel-Job. (Doesn’t trip off the tongue, does it? The name is Dalzel-Job. Patrick Dalzel-Job. Meanwhile, Blofeld has made off with Pussy AND the Aston Martin ... )

My license to kill status is hereby rescinded until the referenced memoir arrives, on order from Abebooks.

Posted by TEV at 09:15 AM |

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